Corendon Airlines is a Turkish holiday airline headquartered in Antalya, operating as part of the Corendon Tourism Group. You might fly with one of the subsidiaries (Corendon Dutch Airlines based in the Netherlands or Corendon Airlines Europe in Malta) depending on your route, though there’s little difference between them. The broader Corendon Tourism Group also includes a tour operator, an incoming agency and hotels, but my review focuses on the core fleet rather than the minimal transatlantic offering from Corendon Dutch.
Fleet and network
Corendon flies direct routes to 165 destinations across 65 countries, carrying approximately six million passengers annually. Europe dominates the network, with Germany as the most connected country. The network extends into North Africa and the Caribbean (Curaçao and Bonaire via the Dutch arm), with many routes operating seasonally to serve cold European holidaymakers heading south for sun.
The majority of the fleet are Boeing 737-800 and 737-800 MAX models, of which the airline operates 38 aeroplanes. Twenty of those belong to Corendon Airlines, 15 to Corendon Airlines Europe and three to Corendon Dutch Airlines. These short to medium-haul narrowbody planes are a common default choice for Europe’s budget carrier airlines, British travellers will be familiar with them from Jet2 and Ryanair, which operate hundreds of this model.
Most of Corendon’s Boeing fleet have been flying for many years. The airline entirely leases the planes from other carriers (like low-cost Turkish rival Pegasus Airlines) after they’ve updated their own fleets with more modern models. The one exception to this is the much newer Airbus A350-900, which it uses for its transatlantic flights from the Netherlands to the Caribbean.
Onboard – seats, food and facilities
Corendon’s Boeing 737s use a standard three-three economy configuration with faux leather seats: 30 inches of pitch (legroom) and 18 inches wide. That’s more generous than some modern planes and perfectly fine for a couple of hours, but for longer trips I recommend upgrading to an emergency seat. There are no power sockets, USB points, or Wi-Fi.
One quirk: row 11 offers no window for seat 11A because the aircon system sits in the fuselage there (just like Ryanair), so choose another ‘window’ seat if you want a view. The blue and white colour scheme is easy on the eye, and cabins are in my experience clean and in reasonable condition.
One feature you don’t see much on more modern setups is Corendon’s choice to install reclining seats. These are usually a point of contention on any flight, but when you only have 30 inches of legroom in the first place, I think they’re downright rude. Another reason to upgrade to emergency seats, then. If you do want to recline, don’t choose row 15 in front of the emergency seats, as these don’t move.
The Corendon Fly Café & Fly Bistro offers à la carte snacks and drinks, should you get peckish on board. There are no pork products sold, but alcohol is available to buy. On some bookings, you can pre-order hot meals up to 72 hours before departure if offered on the website, but these are restricted by route and availability and cost extra.
Booking and fares
Corendon offers four standard branded economy fare classes: Lite, Eco, Flex, and Premium. This is a zero-frills, bare-bones affair throughout the booking and flying experience. The app and website are acceptable but I’ve found both buggy on occasion, with confusing instructions. Dig deeper and you’ll find a bewildering array of limited-time variants like EcoPlus and FlexPlus popping up on some routes for certain time periods.
You may also see EcoPlus and FlexPlus tickets pop up on some routes at certain times. Corendon also offers the Promo fare in limited numbers during campaign periods, although I’ve never seen it when making a booking, whether one week or six months before I intend to fly.
Promo
I’m starting with the mystery Promo fare simply because it is by far the most basic Corendon offers (if indeed it gets offered at all). It includes the standard small bag that must fit under the seat in front and be no more than 40 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm. Like the other major Turkish budget carrier Pegasus, Corendon also applies a 3 kg weight limit to this bag.
Otherwise, the only other thing included is online check-in. This, however, can be tricky with Corendon, as they don’t offer online check-in at all of their operating airports, so be sure to check before you fly. Where online check-in is available, you’ll pay around €10 for airport check-in instead.
Eco
Eco is Corendon’s standard budget fare, always available with both an underseat bag and a 10 kg, 55 cm x 40 cm x 25 cm cabin bag.
You can cherry-pick extras like seat selection, in-flight food (route dependent), and priority boarding. EcoPlus adds a 20 kg checked bag, or you can buy checked baggage separately in four options between 15 kg and 32 kg. Typically I prefer booking the most basic fare and adding extras, but Corendon’s prices for checked bags mean if you’re taking serious luggage, it’s almost always cheaper to book the next fare package up.
If you’re unsure about your plans, Corendon offers a ‘Flexy’ option that lets you change (but not cancel) your ticket, available during reservation for €25 on Eco fares for flights scheduled at least three weeks after purchase. With such a long lead time, this has always struck me as a largely pointless exercise. A lot can change within three weeks.
Flex
Flex is the midrange option and the best balance of budget to service. It includes both a personal bag and cabin bag, a 23 kg checked bag, standard seat selection, and limited change/refund options (you can add the Flexy service for €15 during booking for more flexibility). As you’ll be checking in bags at the airport, you can also check in free then as well.
Premium
Corendon amusingly bills Premium as ‘for ultimate travels’, though it’s simply the top-end fare. It includes two checked bags, although this time the weight limit is 20 kg for each rather than the 23 kg limit for the single checked bag on a Flex fare. You can also choose free seat selection for any seat except the front row. Priority check-in, priority boarding, and a hot meal or snack (depending on what’s available) are also part of the Premium deal.
Lastly, Premium fares come with what Corendon calls a ‘flexible’ flight change and refund policy. It allows you to change your flight without charge up to 48 hours before you fly. For cancellations, Flex and Premium tickets offer a 24-hour cancellation window after purchase when at least seven days remain before departure, although the service fee and fuel surcharge you originally paid aren’t refundable.
Flying transatlantic
If you’re flying Corendon’s route from Amsterdam to either Curaçao or Bonaire, municipality islands of the Netherlands, you’ll fly aboard an Airbus A350-900. As such you can expect a far more sophisticated in-flight experience with a meal from Mondi Restaurant, a snack, a drink, and a personal in-flight entertainment system with a TV screen at each seat.
Most intriguing is the ‘Adult Only Zone’ for passengers over 16. Designed as a safe haven from crying kids and complete with XL seats offering more legroom, it’s as close as you’ll find to business class on a Corendon flight.
This KAYAK-commissioned article is presented as-is, for general informational purposes only, and may not be up to date. The opinions contained in the article are original to the author and reflect their authentic experience, which may vary significantly from the experience of others. Find more perspectives in our user reviews below.
